Back from the brink …

Standing before you
Together we arise
A life in dignity
With passion in our eyes
Live for the moment
That’s why we’re here
Leap and your wings will appear

The words are everything are they not? Written with
” the very top ” in mind.

The ‘creme de la creme’ we so hope you turn out to be.

Sundays short workshop was designed just to show you that you are all the same and only separated by the degree of passion you share for the Performing Arts.

The Performing Arts

Not the Academic Classroom
The Sporting Field
The Charity Committee
The DOE
Or any other worthy cause that might take your attention

The Perfoming Arts

A collection of actors , dancers , writers, musicians ,visual artists and anything else that makes you ” show ” more creatively what you are made of…

” the Right Creative Stuff , the Dead Poet Society , the Coach Carter, the Fame , the Shine , the Chorus and Mr Hollands Opus… in all of you ”

To perform : meaning – to present , a play, concert entertainment for an audience

Verona : meaning – to grow , to inspire , to create , to enliven , to face adversity , to rise , to cope, to time manage , to trust , to awaken , to sense , to think , to understand , to realise , to follow , to advise , to support , to help , to nurture, to direct, to work , to struggle , to worry , to panic , to fear , to challenge , to discipline , to to uphold , to determine , to purpose , to win , to reconcile , to hate , to love , to feel , to empathise , to sympathise , to enable , to craft , to bolster , to energise , to care , to lose , to find, to dig deep , to despair , to assail , to threaten, to compete, to sort , to revitalise , to concentrate , to focus , to stimulate , to expose , to bare , to reveal , to motivate , to cajole , to open , to close , to reopen , to root , to reboot , to surprise , to build , to switch on , to surpass , to exceed , to expect , to shut out , to forget ,to remember , to err and to fall , to leap and to soar , to express, to communicate ,to say , to voice , to breath , to flow , to declare , to admit , to laugh , to cry , to rage , to matter, to educate , to teach , to share , to know , to move , to elevate , to learn , to objectify , to personalise , to placate , to push , to strive , to seek , to find , to imagine , to touch , to see , to hear , to mind , to differentiate , to arm, to protect , to defend , to attack , to adapt , to humble , to sacrifice , to sweat , to bleed, to bruise , to hurt , to want to give up , to carry on regardless , to be extra ordinary in your youthfulness …to go the road less travelled and be all the better for it.

That is VERONA and what it means to be part of it.

Maybe now you better understand why we go on about this being kind of special ?

That this is not just a performance …it is a microscopic life in Art

What you produce on stage will be testimony of your determination to succeed, a creative legacy that lives on in PACE memories , like the work done in the past 10 years of this amazing project .

It is all that you as a House , a band of performing artists, put your creative mind to …a very big deal for ones …so young …so inexperienced in their life age.

But a place to find the best of yourself and to deal with the bad that sometimes gets in the way, for all of us…

How you chose to spend your Verona 2014 challenge is down to your strength of character:

As nothing
As set dressing
As a real contender
As head and shoulders above the rest ?

We can only show you the potential for positive change in PACE.

Like choosing the right theatre partner in a room full of well known faces

The way forward for all , lies not in what you know, or think you know , but in what you fear revealing.

Friends mask the truth, because they care too much that you are safe.

A stranger can see right to the heart of the matter, because they see you for who you are in that moment in time.

No different in the drama space .

Theatre Adversity makes for strange bedfellows does it not ?

If this was a desert island and you were castaway with these 2 Houses of people – would you :

Struggle amongst yourself ?
Make a home ?
Build a raft ?
Invent another existence and create your own reason for everything ?

The answer to your Verona journey lies in one of the above.

Like everything in life , you just have to get on with it .

The arrow is pointing forward for a reason, when you need a reason to doubt this , look at the list above and pick your future, from a list of endless possibilities to keep you going in the right direction.

If you can do this , you can do anything you set your mind to.

Otherwise walk out the drama door and leave your creative Housemates , to get on with their extra ordinary mission.

Back from the brink ?

I hope so …I really hope you get your creative acts together – for the clock is ticking , TEMPUS FUGIT and so dear Veronites, should you !

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3 Responses to Back from the brink …

"The way forward for all , lies not in what you know, or think you know , but in what you fear revealing."
Like my fellow actors I felt fear with regards to Verona's fate, i felt fear and that fear made me feel alive with all my longing and hope for this amazing project. I feel like this was the proverbial wake-up call we needed, now it's onwards and upwards! :)

It is interesting to see how many words can describe a whole experience and yet still fail to capture parts of the Verona challenge. I have rarely felt such extreme emotions in my life but Verona is definitely one event that I can say has brought me to the brink and back, even if I've only done two. Guess it goes to show you how even when living a life where only mundane language is used, there are still places that bring out the sophistication of language and people.

Personally before the first show I like to read through all the posted verona blogs, just to get myself hyped, too see what happened at this point during rehearsals, what Mhairi thought about the challenge...And reading this has made me look back to this day, to see two houses come together and express their love, their passion for this wonderful thing called Verona, and to see the new people, the new monties and cappies become part of it, as if someone has injected it into them..because we got it, we grasped it and we became it. Thats what verona is, its the love for what you're doing, the love for one another, and the respect for both houses and the amazing show they have created, because thats what we all are, we are amazing.
To Verona, may it continue to live on for another 100 years, and to the new members cherish it...because they become the best memories of your life, it truly is a challenge, a challenge that you should come to face to face and prepare yourself for the tears, the stress, the bruises but also prepare for the love, the sense of home, the pride in your show.
Good luck to both houses tonight in the showing of both our plays, its not about the winning, its just an added bonus...
We have both won, we are here, living this, the 10th anniversary, I know i've won in that sense.
Love to all, both houses but #mtwd